Today I went to the open rehearsals for JUBILEE, a production which will be performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester in November.
Just three days into rehearsals, the cast invited the Open Exchange Network to contribute to their brainstorming process. JUBILEE is based on Derek Jarman's iconic film which experimented with DIY fashion, music riots - punk at its height. This stage adaption will take the 1977 film and centre it in the social and political turmoil of 2017 - the play's ideas of creativity and nihilism are just as relevant today as they were then.
I was asked to contribute to discussions of the privatisation of the NHS and whether the process made us as humans more alone - 'no man is an island', (John Donne), but perhaps we are a nation who is heading this way?
I was asked to share my thoughts on physical and mental intimacy and the point at which I felt I could not talk about something - one character is a 'nymphomanic' but finds that a certain thing causes her a mental block, a taboo of sorts.
I certainly now have a flavour of what the play is about and the style which director, Chris Goode, seems to be aiming for - a raw, emotive performance of passion and an enraged depiction of 'Faith in the establishment collapsing everywhere'. You can find out more about the production here https://www.royalexchange.co.uk/whats-on-and-tickets/jubilee
Photo Credit to the Royal Exchange.